CAUSES OF THE FETCH EFFECT IN WIND EROSION

The increase of soil mass flux with distance downwind, the fetch effect for wind erosion, has been observed and reported on since 1939. This model incorporates the following three mechanisms. (1) The ‘avalanching’ mechanism in which one particle moving downwind would dislodge one or more particles upon impact with the surface. The result of a chain of such events is an increase of mass flux with distance. (2) The ‘aerodynamic feedback’ effect, suggested by P. R. Owen, in which the aerodynamic roughness height is increased by saltation of particles; the resulting increased momentum flux increases saltation. These increases define a positive feedback loop with respect to distance downwind. (3) The ‘soil resistance’ mechanism, which is largely an expression of the change with distance of threshold velocity. Change of threshold velocities may be caused by inhomogeneities of the soil or progressive destruction of aggregates and crust in the direction of saltation fetch. An experiment was run in March 1993 at Owens Lake to test this model. Detailed measurements of wind profiles and mass fluxes were taken on a line parallel to the wind direction. These data support the proposed three-mechanism model.     

Metamorphism of the Mullerneset Formation, St. Jonsfjorden, Svalbard

The metamorphism of upper greenschist facies metasediments exposed in the extreme southwestern portion of St. Jonsjorden, Svalbard, is described. The rocks form part of the Mullerneset Formation of the late Precambrian age Kongsvegen Group and constitute a portion of the central-western Spitsbergen Cale-donides. Four deformations (D, -D4) and two metamorphic episodes (Mi and M2) have affected the rocks of the Mullerneset area. Mi was a prograde event which was initiated prior to the onset of the Di and continued through this deformation. Pre-Dt metamorphism reached biotite grade whereas garnet grade was attained syn-Di. M2 was a lower-middle greenschist facies metamorphism associated with D2. The results of quantitative geothermometry in the pelitic rocks show that peak Mi metamorphic temperatures decrease southwards across the field area from about 540°C to 510°C. Geobarometry and estimates of depth of burial indicate that Mi pressures were in the range of 5–7 kb. The data are consistent with geothermal gradients in the range of 21 ± 4°C/km to 24 ± 5°C/km. M2 metamorphic conditions are not precisely determinable but temperatures and pressures were probably less than those attained during Mi. It is suggested that the rocks of central-western Spitsbergen were originally deposited in an aulacogen before the initiation of Caledonian diastrophism.     

The methodological basis for fine‐resolution,multi‐proxy reconstructions of ombrotrophic peat bog surface wetness

Amesbury, M. J., Barber, K. E. & Hughes, P. D. M. 2010: The methodological basis for fine‐resolution, multi‐proxy reconstructions of ombrotrophic peat bog surface wetness. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00152.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. The need for Holocene peat‐based palaeoclimatic records of increased temporal resolution has been widely identified in recent research. The often rapid growth rates of ombrotrophic bogs, when combined with fine‐resolution (i.e. millimetre‐scale) sampling, provide an as yet largely unexploited potential to derive sub‐decadal palaeoclimatic data from this proxy‐archive. However, multi‐proxy, fine‐resolution analyses require changes to standard methodologies, and the application of sampling techniques that are new to peat‐based palaeoclimate research. A peat sampler was custom‐built to allow precise and replicable millimetre‐scale subsampling. Subsequent methodological testing revealed that, irrespective of sample thickness (i.e. resolution), halving the standard sample volume used for plant macrofossil (from 4 cm³ to 2 cm³) and testate amoebae (from 2 cm³ to 1 cm³) analyses and the sample weight used for peat humification analysis (from 0.2 g to 0.1 g dried peat) did not affect the interpretation of the results. A contiguous 1‐mm sampling resolution for plant macrofossil analysis was also tested, but it was found that contiguous 5‐mm samples provided a more reliable background record to fine‐resolution testate amoebae and peat humification analyses. Based on these findings, a standardized and systematic methodological approach was developed, using the custom‐built peat slicer to take millimetre‐scale samples that provide enough sample material for both testate amoebae and peat humification analyses to be performed at 1‐mm resolution. This approach will facilitate the testing of the palaeoclimatic reliability of multi‐proxy, fine‐resolution peat‐based records.     

Sediment trend models fail to reproduce small-scale sediment transport patterns on an intertidal beach

A rigorous test is presented of the application of sediment trend models to an intertidal beach environment characterized by bar morphology. Sediment samples were collected during low tide from a regular grid and their sediment fall velocity distributions, obtained using a settling tube, were analysed using moment analysis. The net sediment transport direction determined from beach surveys, hydrodynamic measurements, wave ripple observations and sediment transport modelling was compared with predictions by sediment trend models based on the spatial distribution of sediment parameters. It was found that the sediment transport pathways and patterns of sedimentation predicted using sediment trend models were at odds with field observations, and varied significantly depending on whether surface or sub‐surface sediment samples were used. The sediment trend models are thought to fail because, in energetic and morphologically variable beach environments, spatial patterns in sediment characteristics are mainly attributed to the presence of different hydrodynamic regions and associated morphology, rather than sediment pathways. The use of sediment trend models cannot replace the collection of morphological, hydrodynamic and sediment transport data in the field to define relationships between flows, forms and sedimentation patterns on a dynamic intertidal beach.     

Towards a framework for learning with GIS: The case of Urban World, a hypermap learning environment based on GIS

Off-the-shelf GIS toolboxes are inadequate for pedagogic purposes. Urban World , an Arc View application, attempts to address this shortcoming by including special features designed to foster student progress towards a better understanding of urban environments. This paper provides context for the Urban World system in an active, authentic learning environment for students of urban geography and planning at junior and senior levels in undergraduate curricula at universities in the United States. The paper describes the rationale for, and implementation of, several components of Urban World : a special graphid user interface; productivity tools for facilitating the acquisition of practical skills of mapping and spatial analysis; tools for accessing, undertaking, and submitting homework assignments in a paper-less class; and various devices for assisting students to undertake spatial reasoning. GIS are Seen as an enabling technology for improving understanding by means of engaging students in empirical analysis. Spatial problem solvers and decision makers reach sound conclusions by employing reasoning skills applied to well-formed databases; scientific research makcs progress with sound reasoning of many types. The effective teaching and learning about the geography of our world requires a strong foundation of spatid reasoning.     

Pleistocene paleoecology of the Don and Scarborough Formations, Toronto, Canada, based on cladoceran microfossils at the Don Valley Brickyard

Cladoceran microfossil evidence has confirmed that a disjunction in environmental conditions existed during deposition of the Don and Scarborough Formations in Toronto, Ontario. Although mean annual temperatures were distinctly warmer during the Don interval than in the Scarborough, they were probably similar to the present-day regime. The cladoceran community was almost exclusively composed of littoral species throughout the sequence, suggesting that the deposition site was a shallow-water lentic habitat. Chydorid cladoceran species richness in the Don Formation averaged four times that in the Scarborough. Past community structure, water depth, and trophic state changes at the site were reconstructed from the proportions of littoral to planktic species, the proportions of sediment- to vegetation-preferring chydorids, and the species diversity and equitability.     

OPINIONOpen‐minded Geographers: Their Potential Role in Integrated Adaptive Environmental Management

There are three key factors to be considered in comprehensive environmental management: (a) integration across disciplines and interests; (b) flexibility and adaptability based on feedback; and (c) interactions between policy and implementation at different scales. Successful management is both integrated and inclusive, and also adaptive and flexible. It involves a synthesis of work, requiring empathy among contributors and active synthesis. Furthermore, there is a need for a dialectical consideration of processes acting at various scales. Geographers who are not too narrowly specialised have a key role to play, and, collectively, might have been more centrally involved in environmental management than they have been.